Feasibility Studies to implement the Circular Economy model in large retail food cabinets.

The retail food sector is a large consumer of environmental resources. This project is focused on large fridges, freezers and cold cabinets deployed in the major UK supermarkets and food stores.
Research shows that the life cycle of retail refrigeration display equipment is short (3-9 years) and minimal equipment recycling takes. Of the 800,000 food display cabinets deployed in over 9000 supermarkets in the UK, less than 13% are recycled. This project is to support a number of scientifically based feasibility studies which will investigate the complete manufacturing life cycle of these products to make clear recommendations on how to concurrently reduce the use of material and increase re-use and thus to minimise waste. In short, the aim is to implement the circular economy model with a leading UK supplier of these products.